Internet Gambling Ban on GOP Agenda

A ban on Internet gambling is one of the goals the the Republican Party hopes to achieve if they can wrestle power from the Democrats, this fall. The anti-gambling plank is a small part of the Grand Old Party’s efforts to create a more family friendly Internet.

Internet gambling is lumped together with anti-pornography efforts that are outlined in a section of the party platform titled, Making the Internet Family-Friendly. It reads:

Millions of Americans suffer from problem or pathological gambling that can destroy families. We support the prohibition of gambling over the Internet and call for reversal of the Justice Department’s decision distorting the formerly accepted meaning of the Wire Act that could open the door to Internet betting.

While it’s not surprising to see the GOP blindly contradicting any move made be the Obama administration, this one seems to fly in the face of their pro-business, anti-regulation stance.

For example that same document contains this, seemingly contradictory passage on Internet freedom:

We will remove regulatory barriers that protect outdated technologies and business plans from innovation and competition, while preventing legacy regulation from interfering with new and disruptive technologies…

It’s also odd that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of the convention’s featured speakers, is an outspoken advocate of gambling and igaming. Christie has framed that fight in states’ rights terms that have long been a GOP rallying cry.

The good news for anyone in the iGaming industry is that language like this is included in the platform to please party stalwarts, but is rarely followed up on later.